A parent says cheating is prolific amongst Hamilton Boys' High School's rowing programme. Photo / Tim Clayton
A parent says cheating is prolific amongst Hamilton Boys' High School's rowing programme. Photo / Tim Clayton
Cheating is prolific in the Hamilton Boys’ High School rowing programme with young rowers used as “tools” to get the school the best result, a parent of a student claims.
The comments follow the school being sanctioned by the NZ Secondary School Rowing Association (NZSSRA) after admitting to 17 breachesof the rules and regulations involving two competitors at four major regattas.
The parent claimed he had seen the same rules broken by the school repeatedly over the last two seasons and is now speaking out about his son’s experience.
But, headmaster Susan Hassall “strongly denied” allegations of deliberate cheating or a pattern of improper conduct to gain an advantage.
The parent told the Herald his son was registered to take part in his first race during a regatta in February 2022 but he and another rower were replaced by two older rowers who, the parent claimed, did not qualify for the under-15 age group - with no substitution officially made.
The crew, including the two older students, won the final for their category.
The following season the situation was reversed. The parents claimed that his son and another boy were placed in a novice race at a November 2022 regatta under other students’ names because he was no longer classed as a novice even though he did not get to row in the February race.
“Hamilton Boys’ High School just used names and boys to suit their own purpose,” the parent claimed.
“My son’s actual novice season was effectively ruined and then the next season he couldn’t row as a novice as his name was used the year before.”
The NZ Secondary School Rowing Association (NZSSRA) last week released a statement explaining Hamilton Boys’ High School had been sanctioned and stripped of medals for the exact same practice - failing to properly enter or substitute rowers and using those rowers in novice events they were not eligible for.
The school admitted to 17 rule breaches involving two students across 10 events at two North Island Secondary School Championships and two Maadi Cup regattas between 2021 and 2023.
The parent said he believed it was “cheating” and was “prolific” with neither coaches nor students batting an eyelid at it.
“As all the boys wanted to row and get in good crews, everyone just went along with it - including parents I guess.”
The parent said he felt it was wrong but, being new to rowing, didn’t know if it was an issue or something all schools did.
“They just use kids’ names and they don’t even think about the effect on the kids, " the parents claimed.
In the parent’s view, the children were treated as “tools” and “moved around the chess board...[to] get the best results for the programme”.
Hamilton Boys' High School principal Susan Hassall "strongly denied" any deliberate cheating in the school's rowing programme. Photo / File
In the apology the NZSSRA ordered from Hamilton Boys’, Hassall said the rule breachers were a “result of very poor judgement” by one staff member.
However, the boy’s parents believed there were a number of coaches, staff and student leaders who knew what was going on.
A father involved in another Waikato school’s rowing programme said everyone in the rowing community was aware Hamilton Boys’ had been “fiddling things” with how they entered novices but lacked the evidence to back up a complaint.
He realised something was “a little bit dodgy” when he and another parent spotted a Hamilton Boys’ student walking by and asked why he was not in the water with the boat he was registered in. He told them he’d been substituted.
He claimed his sons were also warned when they took up rowing, they would not be on a level playing field with Hamilton Boys’ for the first year or two because of how they “fiddled things around novices”.
Hassall denied the allegations but said it was “difficult to comment on allegations which are not specific, are unsubstantiated, appear based on uninformed opinion and come from anonymous sources”.
She said the school had already made the decision to transition to new leadership.
Caleb Shepherd, a distinguished coxswain, silver medallist at the Tokyo Olympics and a teacher at the school would take over as director of rowing for the 2023/24 season, she said.
Hassall said the school had publicly apologised and made changes to its rowing programme to prevent the same errors from being made again.
“Hamilton Boys’ High School has built a proud and successful rowing programme over the last 68 years and the school’s aim is to ensure, both that this proud history can continue, and also that the school, and most importantly its students, can move on from this regrettable incident.”
The NZSSRA sanctions faced by Hamilton Boys’ High School included disqualifying all the school’s crews who competed in the 10 events where a breach occurred.
The disqualification saw the school stripped of the Derbyshire Shield and gold medals in eight categories.
The school also faces a conditional suspension from the membership of NZRSSA for one regatta if the school breaches the same rules again within two years - meaning none of the school’s students would be able to compete.
Hamilton Boys’ High School also had to issue a written apology and pay $5000 towards legal costs and the cost of replacement medals and associated administration.
